Among
other things they pride themselves on their immunity from vexatious
imposts. Yet whisky, the best quality of which is worth tenpence a
bottle, is taxed till it costs five shillings; ale, the life-blood of
the people, would be dear at three-pence a gallon and yet costs
fivepence a pint; tobacco, which could profitably be sold at twopence a
pound, goes for fivepence an ounce. They will submit to any number of
these extortions, being persuaded, in the depths of their turbid
intelligence, that such things are devised for the good of the nation
at large. That is the Englishman's method of procuring happiness: to
deny himself pleasure in order to save his neighbour's soul. Ale and
tobacco are commodities out of which a man can extract pleasure. They
are therefore appropriate objects for harassing restrictions. But
nobody can extract pleasure out of lucifer matches. They are therefore
pre-eminently unfitted for exploitation as a source of governmental
revenue. So keen is their sense of pleasure and non-pleasure, and such
is their FUROR PHLEGMATICUS on this particular question, that when it
is proposed to establish a tax on matches--an imperceptible duty which
would enrich the Exchequer to a vast extent--they will form a procession
ten miles long to protest against the outrage, and threaten to batter
down the Houses of Parliament.
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